Noted real estate expert, Frederick M. Babcock – who helped start the Federal Housing Administration – wrote in The Valuation of Real Estate, in the chapter entitled “Influence of Social and Racial Factors on Value” that “Among the traits and characteristics of people which influence land values, racial heritage and tendencies seem to be of paramount importance. The aspirations, energies, and abilities of various groups in the composition of the population will largely determine the extent to which they develop the potential value of land.” He goes on to state “Most of the variations and differences between people are slight and value declines are, as a result, gradual. But there is one difference in people, namely, race, which can result in a very rapid decline. Usually such declines can be partially avoided by segregation and this device has always been in common usage in the South where white and negro populations have been separated.”